


The Quiet Ones

by Theophila



Category: Ghostbusters
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-15
Updated: 2010-04-15
Packaged: 2017-10-08 23:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/80540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theophila/pseuds/Theophila
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the Ghostbusters babysit for Oscar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Quiet Ones

**Author's Note:**

> Slightly inspired by Egon's initial reaction to Slimer in RGB. I felt the way he spoke to him might have been slightly similar to the way he spoke to a curious young child.

Tuesday morning was bleak and miserable. Grey clouds smothered New York City, and a bitter chill nipped at the skin of those who dared to venture out. As if to punctuate its dominance, rain fell in sheets, offering the chill an extra avenue to exact its ruthlessness upon the hapless victims.

 

Nonetheless, people still dashed to work, braving the weather, which was wreaking havoc on the traffic – at only nine o'clock, already several collisions had taken place, further augmenting the problem. The subway was likewise suffering, grinding to a halt when the lines became too flooded to continue.

 

It was this weather which had found young Oscar ferried to the Firehouse by Dana, after his babysitter had called that morning to cancel: she was unfortunately trapped in the subway tunnels when the train had broken down in the flooding. Janine had been only too delighted to take Oscar for the day when Dana, still determined to make it to the Museum to get to work, had dropped him off at the Firehouse. It had been a last resort, really, but... who else could she call?

 

Janine had been able to keep Oscar busy for much of the morning with jigsaw puzzles and colouring books, conveniently stored in her desk drawers for those days when she was entrusted with her nephew, Victor.

 

Oscar quietly shaded a picture of a Policeman, subconsciously holding his tongue between his teeth as he concentrated, trying to keep his crayon within the thick black outlines. If there was one thing he had certainly inherited from his mother, it was a tendency towards perfectionism.

 

He sat back, the picture finally completed in the correct colours, and then glanced around. Janine was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps, as she had done so often that day, she had returned downstairs to her desk to answer a phone call. Oscar turned the page with a "hmmm", regarding the picture outlined on it. A Fireman posed with his hose, which was gushing a torrent of water. Somewhere in Oscar's memory, he could vaguely pick out a group of men who once stood with the same pride. However, their own hoses exuded a sort of... fluorescent light. It was very hazy. In fact, he wasn't even sure if it hadn't been a dream.

 

Across the room, a door lay open invitingly. Abandoning his colouring book, Oscar pushed himself off the couch and wandered across to the door. Peeking through the crack between the double doors, he could make out a corridor. Perhaps it might be okay to explore just a little?

 

Slipping through the doors without looking back, he found himself faced with many closed doors, down each side of the hallway. Further down, light streamed into the corridor through open doors, leading into one of the rooms. Curious, Oscar toddled towards the light.

 

 

Inside the room, a tall man with blonde hair, wearing a cerulean outfit, sat hunched over something, silently working on whatever it was. As he swapped his tweezers for a screwdriver, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, peeking around the door curiously. He smiled. The man had met Oscar some three or four years ago, after his mother had called him in to help figure out why Oscar's pram had suddenly developed a life of its own. He had certainly grown since then.

 

"My name is Doctor Egon Spengler," the man said as he finished twisting a screw into place on his project. Putting down his screwdriver, he turned, still smiling to Oscar. "I'm a scientist."

 

"I'm Oscar," Oscar replied, still partially hidden by the door.

 

Egon nodded, "we met, a very long time ago." Noting that Oscar was still peeking out from behind the door, he added, "why don't you come on in, perhaps we can find something for you to do? I imagine those colouring books can get wearing after some time."

 

Oscar slowly padded into the room, looking around at the various scattered electronics, chemicals and books. Egon furrowed his brows, wondering what he might have to hand that wouldn't involve risking accidents resulting from use of experimental machinery? Rummaging through his drawers, his hand came to rest on the answer: a magnetic construction set! It was perfect!

 

He had saved it as a souvenir of his accidental age-reversal, figuring it might come in handy some day.

 

"Do you like building?" Egon asked.

 

"I have lego," Oscar ventured.

 

Egon hmmed, and knelt down on the floor next to Oscar, opening the box. "Well, this is sort of similar to lego," he explained, picking up a steel ball and a brightly coloured metal bar from the box. "You can join these balls and sticks together like this, see?" The ball snapped tightly to the stick as Egon let it go. "From there, you can build anything you want. Here, you try."

 

Oscar's eyes widened. "Wow!" He exclaimed as he took the proffered ball and stick, and proceeded to join on another two.

 

Sometime later, both were still thoroughly engrossed in the metal balls and rods. A rather knobbly looking car was whipping around the room, controlled by Oscar. Egon smiled as he watched. They had built the car together, and Egon had supplied a simple, remote controlled engine.

 

It wasn't exactly what Egon had planned, but Oscar had been so enthusiastic about building a car that their rocket became instead, a model of the Stanley Steamer used at Daytona Beach, and it had been very simple to whip up a primitive engine.

 

The rocket-car zoomed past Egon again, before colliding with someone who yelped rather loudly. Both turned to the redhead standing in the doorway, watching them with a frown.

 

"So there ya are, Oscar. I been looking all over for ya," she said, crossing her arms. Oscar picked up the car, smiling broadly.

 

"Look at what me and Egon made!" Oscar held the car up to show it to the redhead.

 

Egon fiddled with his glasses, offering a shy smile. "He needed something to do, Janine..."

 

Janine's expression seemed to soften slightly as she examined the car. "You got bored, huh?" She said, looking down at Oscar. "It's alright. This place ain't exactly kid-friendly." She passed the remote controlled car back to Oscar, who clutched it as if a precious artefact. "I just came to tell ya lunch is ready, and if you want it, you better hurry," Janine began to lead Oscar from the room, and then turned and glanced over her shoulder, "and that means you too, Egon."

 

Without realizing he was doing it, Egon reached up and fiddled with his glasses again. “Of course, I shall be there soon.”

 

Oscar was still clutching the car as he toddled after Janine. Egon couldn't help a smile. He, himself, had never had toys as a child – his parents had discouraged it, aside from a broken slinky which Egon had straightened as an experiment. However, this had been – if he could allow himself to use the word – _fun_. It had also proven to be a learning experience for Oscar. Maybe, he thought, there was indeed space for fun in learning. Perhaps there was nothing so wrong with toys at all.

 

As he reflected on that, he tidied away the remaining beads and rods, before proceeding to lunch.

 

**END**


End file.
